Hilton Head captures Dixie Junior Boys state championship with pair of wins

After coming up on the short end of a coin toss, Hilton Head's 13-year-old All-Stars knew coming into play on Thursday they'd need to win two games to win the Dixie Junior Boys State Tournament at Aiken's Citizens Park.

The Hilton Head Dixie Junior Boys team celebrates with its trophy after winning the state tournament Thursday in Aiken, S.C.
Jeremy Timmerman -- Aiken Standard

After coming up on the short end of a coin toss, Hilton Head's 13-year-old All-Stars knew coming into play on Thursday they'd need to win two games to win the Dixie Junior Boys State Tournament at Aiken's Citizens Park.

They did just that, knocking off Sumter, 6-4, before holding off Lexington, 16-10, in the afternoon game. Hilton Head had lost 16-12 to the same Lexington team on Wednesday.

"We went into today looking at it as 14 innings of baseball, 14 innings or less of baseball," said head coach Bill Keen. "So we went into every inning, we were trying to push some runs across and hold the opponent to less than we scored."

Coty Brigham went 1 for 3 with two runs scored, and got the win in five innings pitched against Sumter. Boyce Kobleur was 1 for 3 and pitched two scoreless innings for the save. John Burke and Michael Graupner also went 1 for 3. Burke had two RBIs, and Kobleur and Graupner each had one.

In the championship game against Lexington, Boyce Kobleur was 2 for 4 with three RBIs, and earned the win in four innings pitched. Alexander Morris went 2 for 5 with three RBIs and nailed down the save over the final three innings. Coty Brigham and Quade Grisham each went 3 for 5 with two runs, and Pablo Ahumada had a three-run triple for Hilton Head.

Hilton Head also collected the sportsmanship award for the bracket and will face host Columbus, Ga., on Aug. 3 in the Dixie Junior Boys World Series.